Possible for over-performing Glaidus to beat an underperforming L6?

Flea Bag

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My L6 which I got off eBay arrived and I was quite disappointed with its output. From what I remember, it should be much brighter. Instead, it's equal to my Gladius in overall output and is murdered by my Gladius in throw. I know it's not to do with the batteries, tailcap or body because I also tried the KL6 head on an M6 body and an M4 body. All were equally dim.

I don't know if my Gladius is a crazy bin but it out-throws my C3-P90 by a bit.
Any inputs?
 
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Kiessling

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Under normal circumstances the Gladius will outthrow the L6, but it won't throw much light that far.
However ... I doubt that a Gldius will out-lumen an L6 ... imagine you have a good performing U-bin Gladius (overdriven IIRC) .... which would mean that you'd need a underperforming U-bin LuxV in the L6 to actually have less luminous flux, which IMHO is highly unlikely these days.
Do you have anything alse to check those two lights against? Did you try them outside in middle distancces, which is where the L-Series really shine? Can you compare your L6 to an L4 or L5 or U2?
bernie
 

CM

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A lux 3 will out throw a LuxV under most circumstances. However the L6 should have significantly more output. Have you tried bouncing the light off the ceiling to compare output? If the L6 is truly underperforming, you can do a lux V transplant. A WWOS or WWOT from Photonfanatic will make your L6 very happy. You can do it with proper equipment or I've been known to mod L6's :D Email me if you're interested in a simple transplant or if you want to boost the drive and change the lux V out.
 

Flea Bag

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Thanks for helping but unfortunately, I don't have any other Lux V LED light with me.

I also forgot to mention that my L6 has quite a noticable doughnut hole and has a slight dirty yellow-green tint to it. There is definitely no chance that this thing conforms to the new 100 lumen rating on SureFire's website. It might even be less than the old 65 lumen rating.

In a few minutes, I'll try the outdoor test to see how it goes.
 

CM

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Flea Bag said:
Thanks for helping but unfortunately, I don't have any other Lux V LED light with me.

I also forgot to mention that my L6 has quite a noticable doughnut hole and has a slight dirty yellow-green tint to it. There is definitely no chance that this thing conforms to the new 100 lumen rating on SureFire's website. It might even be less than the old 65 lumen rating.

In a few minutes, I'll try the outdoor test to see how it goes.

Looks like you lost the luxeon lottery. Have you tried calling Surefire to say what they say? Donuts are par for the course with some of these lights unfortunately. Green tint is also not extremely unusual. However, if you're nice, they may ask you to send it back. But you really need to do an output test by bouncing both lights off the ceiling in a dark room and seeing how much one is brighter than the other. This eliminates throw as a criteria.
 
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Flea Bag

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CM said:
A lux 3 will out throw a LuxV under most circumstances. However the L6 should have significantly more output. Have you tried bouncing the light off the ceiling to compare output? If the L6 is truly underperforming, you can do a lux V transplant. A WWOS or WWOT from Photonfanatic will make your L6 very happy. You can do it with proper equipment or I've been known to mod L6's :D Email me if you're interested in a simple transplant or if you want to boost the drive and change the lux V out.

Yup I used a ceiling bounce test to do the overall output check. Both lights are about equal. When shining both beams on a white wall, the Gladius exhibits a slightly wider spill-beam which consists of slightly dimmer light than the L6. However, the L6's hotspot is nowhere near that of the Gladius. The L6 has a smaller and much dimmer hotspot.

Just got back from outdoor testing. The L6's performance was better than it did indoors. Among the greens, it's spillbeam went from only 'slightly brighter' than the Gladius to 'more useful' than the Gladius. However, I believe it's aided because of its yellow tint-bias which helps among the brown tree-barks and green leaves. Throw is still disappointing. In a house with white walls, there's almost no difference between the two.
 

Flea Bag

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Well I guess if I do use this light, it definitely won't be indoors. Outdoors, the doughnut is noticable but only if one pays attention.

I could live with the L6 if I force myself but I won't be very content. I had even asked the help for someone to build a 30 Ohm and 60 Ohm two-stage switch for this thing while waiting for its arrival.

On the other hand: Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I'll contact SureFire to see what they say. I'm not located in the US so shipping to and fro won't be cheap and perhaps SureFire won't entertain swaps from overseas. I'll try my luck.
 

BrianChan

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Flea Bag,

They do entertain overseas returns. I made a long distance call to them sometime ago to arrange for the return of my KL5 which, coincidentally, has the same yellow-green tint as yours. You do not need an RMA number, just include a note in the package describing your problem and send it to them. They will pay for return postage. It's a long wait so patience is the key :)

For replacement parts, packages reach me approx. 3 weeks from their email asking for an address. They won't tell you the item has been sent no matter how many times you email. Hope this helps.
 

W4DIZ

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Flea Bag,
I too had a sick L6.I was going to send it back to Surefire ,but they told me it might take 2 mounths to get it back.
I sent it to CM for a transplant.He installed a WWOT and bumped the current up.
WOW is all I can say.
Cris did a FANTASTIC job!
I liked it so much that I sent him my KL4 and I should have it back in a day or two.
You wont regret it if you let CM mod it for you.
EDIT:I just wanted to add that I did a ceiling bounch test with a P90 and P91.
The L6 kills the P90 and comes very close to the P91.
Hope this helps.
 
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Flea Bag

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W4DIZ said:
Flea Bag,
I too had a sick L6.I was going to send it back to Surefire ,but they told me it might take 2 mounths to get it back.
I sent it to CM for a transplant.He installed a WWOT and bumped the current up.
WOW is all I can say.
Cris did a FANTASTIC job!
I liked it so much that I sent him my KL4 and I should have it back in a day or two.
You wont regret it if you let CM mod it for you.
EDIT:I just wanted to add that I did a ceiling bounch test with a P90 and P91.
The L6 kills the P90 and comes very close to the P91.
Hope this helps.

Thanks Brian! That's comforting to know since I have a bulb that also needs replacing.

That modification sounds tempting and exciting!... I'll have to think about this though...
 
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